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Originally Posted by EEich
I think that Joe believed his statement to be true when he made it. But from the sounds of it, his opinion of Ramsey may have changed for the worse over the course of camp and the season so far. There were reports of him thinking Ramsey was too cocky and not practising well. I love Joe, but I don't believe that he is going to keep his word to Patrick if he doesn't believe that he gives the Redskins their best chance to win.
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I posted this quote in a similar thread (what's the official count on Brunell vs. Ramsey threads up to now?:cheeky-sm ), but I think it bears repeating here:
The Washington Post, November 6th
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Originally Posted by The Washington Post
Ramsey has impressed the coaches by increasing his knowledge of the system despite his limited role, Gibbs said, and he has looked good running the opposition's plays with the scout team.
"Is it ideal for him? No," Gibbs said of Ramsey. "Would you like to get him some reps in practice, yeah. But if you do that, I've found, you're taking a 10 percent thing and trying to project and you're going to take away [snaps] in practice every week, and you really can't do that to the starter. He's been great as far as attitude and everything, he's been terrific, and those guys are always one play away. It's a tough thing to go through, but that's part of the quarterback position."
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Ramsey is not the starter because he didn't outplay Brunell in the preseason games, and Gibbs named Brunell the regular season starter because of Gibbs's higher comfort level with more experienced quarterbacks. Since Brunell was named the starter, Ramsey has had scant opportunity to prove himself on the field (outside of the two quarters against New York, when he came in to relieve an injured Brunell and overcome a 13-point deficit, and struggled-- which undoubtedly had at least a little to do with his lack of practice reps leading up to the game), and that is why Gibbs is reluctant to play Ramsey-- he has a known on-the-field quantity in Brunell, even if that quantity is not impressive. Otherwise, Gibbs has given every indication that Ramsey is doing everything he needs to do in the classroom, on the sidelines, and with the limited opportunities he has in practice.
Although I disagree with Gibbs's decision to continue starting Brunell, I have every confidence that his reluctance to play Ramsey is motivated by a desire to set up Ramsey for future success with this team, rather than an indication that his future lies elsewhere. Gibbs will not play Ramsey this season unless Brunell is injured (no, not even if the Redskins are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention-- Gibbs doesn't believe in that "let's get ready for next year" philosophy), and he will wait until next year's minicamps and training camp practices-- where Ramsey will get more practice reps-- to see if Ramsey is ready to apply on the field all that he has learned in the classroom, and is clearly the best choice at quarterback to win games for the Redskins next season.
Until that time, Gibbs will only give this team and its fans two options-- Brunell or bust.